Balance in August 2016

Is is just me or did July go by abnormally fast? There is no way there were actually 31 days! We had a lot of fun in July and I learned a lot. I forced myself out of my comfort zone and made my family get out of the house. I made myself play with Ellie, minus all of my usual distractions. I practiced a lot of positive self-talk. I finally accepted that I cannot do everything all at once in one day. I realized that it's really true, that we all have our insecurities and struggles. The world doesn't seem as heavy as it did at the start of July. My mantra for August is: Maintain the Balance. Don't focus so much on 1 area of your life that you forget or neglect the rest. 

July Goals

Blog

• Decide what my long-term goals are and what it is that I really want from this space. I'm honestly still not 100% about the future of this space, but I'm working on it.
• Respond in a much more timely manner. I'm trying to keep it all within 2-3 business days. 

Health

• Strengthen my hips. I definitely did this! There are still days that I need some extra stabilization or some advil, but I feel so much better than I did with my last pregnancy.  
• Plan lunches and dinners. I've been awesome at planning, but really suck at actually keeping to the plan. It leads to a lot of waste and makes me so mad at myself!

Home

• Just finish painting the garage door already! I did work on it, but it's still not finished. Note to self: don't paint your garage door. It's a pain in the arse. 
• Organize the basement. Get rid of things! Not at all. 

Social

• Plan some fun summer outings for this little family of mine. Yes! We have had some fun going to water parks and community events and have more planned for August!

Spiritual

• Reframe your thinking. Try to be less judgmental and more positive. This was harder than ever for me this month. I'm working on it and have begun to catch myself more and more when I find myself drifting towards negativity and unkind or unfounded judgments. 
• Work on allowing self to relax. Uh. Kind of. 

Personal

• Try to finish as much of Erin's Reading Challenge as is possible.I'm working on it! Finally finished my 4th book last night!
• Write creatively once a week. I've been writing every week. It hasn't always been creative, but it's practice just the same.

Career

• Take a Coursera class in a subject I wouldn't normally gravitate towards. Yes. I'm slowly working through a business class and surprisingly enjoying it. 

August Goals

I'm laying this out a little differently this month. I sat down and thought about all of the different areas of my life that were important to me, googled a bunch, and ended up coming across the Level 10 Life I didn't spend a whole lot of time trying to figure it all out, but I really loved the wheel and the basics of the categories, so this is loosely based off of that wheel. 

• Physical:
• If you are going to make a  meal plan, then you need to start sticking to it!! 
• Marriage:
• Plan a romantic evening for our 4th anniversary!
• Spiritual:
• My soul is hungry and raw after slowly working through some painful truths. This month I want to spend time studying the basics and decide once and for all how I want to proceed.  
• Finances:
• Find a way to save $500 for reno work this month.
• Physical Environment:
• Sit down and plan out what we are doing. Decide on materials, timeline, the works.
• Social:
• Be way more friendly. Start a conversation with a stranger at least once a week.
• Personal Development:
• Right now I am 11 books behind in my Goodreads challenge. I really, really want to do my best to be, at most, 3 books behind by the end of August.
• Career:
• Take the time to actually do the online training modules for work.
• Free-time:
• Go on an adventure to somewhere new with my family.
• Leaving it Better: 
• Set aside $5 to pay it forward this month and actually do it. 

Had you heard of Level 10 Life before?Have you ever paid it forward? What was that like?What is your focus for August?